The NBA announced today that Eddie Griffin of the Minnesota Timberwolves has been suspended for five games without pay for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program. Griffin’s suspension will begin tonight when the Minnesota Timberwolves play the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum.
Griffin is having his worst season as a pro, getting just 7.1 minutes per game of playing time and averaging 1.4 points and 1.9 rebounds per game on 25.9 percent shooting from the field. For his career he averages 7.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
Minnesota Timberwolves Blog: The Daily Timberwolves News, Jan. 12, 2007
Twelve days into January, the Wolves are set to play only their second road game of the month in Memphis against the 9-27 Grizzlies. Tonight is game number one of a back-to-back set where the Wolves return home tomorrow to play the New Jersey Nets. While Memphis started off slow this season -- a .364 winning percentage in November, and a .214 winning percentage in December -- they stand at .500 (2-2) in January after defeating Golden State and the L.A. Lakers, but losing to Boston and San Antonio.
Memphis has won six of their last seven contests against the Wolves and all four match-ups at their home arena, FedEx Forum, since it opened its doors in 2004. The Wolves still have the overall edge with a 33-11 record against the Grizzlies.
Saturday's match-up against the New Jersey Nets marks the second time in two weeks the two teams face off; the first game on Dec. 30 saw the Nets defeat the Wolves 100-92 in Continental Airlines Arena. Entering their game tonight in Memphis, the Wolves' loss against the Nets is one of only three losses in their last ten games played -- the other two vs. Toronto Dec. 27, 97-100, and the L.A. Clippers Jan. 10, 91-92. Entering their game last night against the Bulls, New Jersey stood 15-19 on the season, good for first place in the Atlantic Division. Overall, the Wolves have 12 wins and only four losses against the Nets when the teams match up on their Target Center turf.
Minnesota Timberwolves Blog: Garnett is player of week Timberwolves News, Jan. 8, 2007
Timberwolves forward and nine-time NBA All-Star Kevin Garnett was named the NBA's Western Conference Player of the Week for games played Jan. 1-7 for the first time this season and the 15th of his career. Garnett averaged 27.5 points, 14.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists as the Wolves went 4-0 on the week, defeating Charlotte (102-96) on the road while taking out San Antonio (103-101), Philadelphia (104-102) and Houston (103-99) in three consecutive overtime wins at home. Garnett's week saw many impressive accomplishments:
- He recorded point/rebound double-doubles in all four contests, including his hitting his 18,000th point in the fourth quarter against the Spurs, becoming the 51st player in NBA history to reach that mark
- He has now scored in double digits in 354 consecutive contests, the eighth longest streak in NBA history
- He registered a season-high 32 points in the Wolves win over the Bobcats, his second 30-plus game of the season and the 73rd of his career
- He hit the game winning shot Friday against the Sixers, marking the third buzzer-beater of his career and the 10th in franchise history
Minnesota Timberwolves Blog: Wolves to face Sixers Jan. 5, 2007
Timberwolves vs. Philadelphia, 7 p.m. - Target Center: Minnesota will look to sweep the season series against Philadelphia tonight. Nine of the last 14 meetings between the teams have been decided by five or fewer points, but the Wolves have come out on top more often than not against the 76ers as they hold an 18-15 lead in the all-time series.
The Wolves are hungry for their fourth consecutive Target Center victory. They've defeated the Bulls (100-98), SuperSonics (101-82) and Spurs (103-101) in recent Target Center games and, in addition to the Sixers game, they have contests against the Rockets (Jan. 7) and Clippers (Jan. 10) on the horizon before hitting the road for their first meeting of the season against the Grizzlies (Jan. 12). Philadelphia will be playing their seventh consecutive road game when they come to town tonight.
Timberwolves 103, Spurs 101 OT:
Minnesota jumped out to a 31-20 lead after the first quarter and led by 13 at the half against San Antonio. However, the Spurs made a late push to tie the game and force an overtime. Kevin Garnett and company held off the Spurs rally and came away with the 103-101 victory in overtime to push the team to the .500 mark at 15-15. Mark Blount led Minnesota with 28 points on 12 of 14 field goal shooting while Kevin Garnett tallied 27, including his 18,000 career point. Reigning Western Conference Rookie of the Month, Randy Foye, scored 19 points off the bench.
NEXT OPPONENT Timberwolves vs. Philadelphia - January 5, 7 p.m. - Target Center: The Timberwolves close out their season series against the 76ers on Friday night. Minnesota can complete their second series sweep in three seasons against Philadelphia with a victory. The Wolves carry a two-game winning-streak and a three-game Target Center winning-streak into the contest.
We'll be updating Minnesota Timberwolves news and this Timberwolves blog regularly all season.
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InsideHoops.com Minnesota Timberwolves Player Rankings (July 19, 2008): 1) Al Jefferson, 2) Mike Miller, 3) Kevin Love, 4) Rashad McCants, 5) Randy Foye, 6) Rodney Carney